3.1: Introduction – What’s Plain English?

Clear, simple and effective communication

Plain English is good, clear writing, saying what you want to say as simply and effectively as possible. Plain English uses simple language without being simple. Plain English focuses on the message and the reader. It uses only as many words as needed and avoids technical or complex language wherever possible.

The reader comes first

Plain English is written for the readers, using words they will know. Plain English is even more precise than traditional English because it avoids meaning that is open to more than one interpretation and possible errors.

This means that you — the writer — need to look at things from the reader’s point of view. You may also need to rethink how you are going to structure and use your document. What does the reader need to know? What do they know and understand about the subject? What’s the best way to organize your ideas so that they will be meaningful to the reader?

SupEFL

Supplemental Self-Help in English as a Foreign Language for Learners with Specific Learning Differences
Erasmus+ KA2 project 2014-1-DE02-KA200-001093

Disclaimer

This project has been funded width support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.